Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 3 - Chapter 5.3

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LOSS

Back at the arena, the first matches were just getting underway.

“……………” (sneak, sneak).

Careful not to let any Practice League members spot me, I steal some glances into the room to see how they’re doing but …… I was discovered almost immediately.

By their supervisor of all people.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Yaichi? Why are you acting so suspiciously ……?”

“Kh! Kuruno-sensei?! Shh! Shhhhh–––!!”

“Stop lurking out here and come inside. Come on.”

“!! B-But, well …… It’s just ……”

He must’ve figured out what was going on by the look on my face, because Kuruno-sensei said, “Hm …… Now I see. I thought that both Ai and Keika weren’t their usual selves today …… This is a complicated situation. Members of the same Shogi family going against each other and the age limit is involved ……”

“…… Yes.”

“I cannot deny that Keika is between a rock and hard place. Her behavior this morning was very unlike her. However–––.”

Yoshitsune Kuruno 7-dan, someone who’s seen many Women’s League and Sub League hopefuls bow out, strongly declares the last thing I expected.

“She’s not that weak. I guarantee it.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve built her up in the Practice League myself.”

He grins at me and continues.

“Now, get in there and watch where everyone can see you.”

“…… Alright. I’ll go in …”

Following behind him, I step lightly.

Luckily (?), all the pieces were lined up and ready to go at the start of the matches, so no one notices me when I come in.

Making sure that neither Keika nor Ai Yashajin know I’m here, I move to a place where I can see their board.

Ai had the first move. Keika is on defense.

Both open their Bishop’s Path and then Ai uses her third turn to advance the Pawn in front of her Rook. As orthodox as orthodox gets.

Then, the fourth move.

Now her turn, Keika starts talking before making her move.

“…… I’m glad I’m playing you first.”

“Ohh? So, you’d like to get the most painful match over with?”

Keika laughs through her nose at Ai’s attempt to provoke her while making a motherly, almost saintly smile. Then, she says something that borders on demonic.

“I wanted a good warm-up before facing Ai.”

“……!!”

Rage ignites, or close enough to it.

Ai’s hair flares up in anger in the blink of an eye, glaring at Keika. Her long, black locks puff out like wings.

Keika’s provocation worked, hook, line and sinker.

Ai may be a Shogi prodigy and she may act older and more mature than most girls her age, but she’s still in elementary school. A heavily sheltered, upper-class lady too.

If Keika, who’s rolled with all the punches life can give, ever got serious about exploiting those openings, she has many to choose from.

She’s never really used any off-the-board tactics or ploys.

Part of that is because she’s a kind person …… Looking at it in a harsher way, she didn’t use a weapon in her arsenal. The other part is that her pride stopped her, she wanted to win on skill alone.

But right now …

Those naïve thoughts are gone.

There are good and bad things about that mindset.

But in her position, the only way she can prove that she’s turned over a new leaf … is to fight and win: that’s it.

“…… Fine by me. I’ll end you, quickly. Now make your move.”

“Sure.”

With that, Keika reaches for Ai’s Bishop.

“Bishop Exchange?!”

I couldn’t stop myself from blurting out.

Taking an opponent’s Bishop while on defense, that means that Keika has chosen–––.

“Move Loss Bishop Exchange … Seriously?!”

Ai’s face twitches yet again.

That strategy is Ai’s forte. It’s also the strategy she used to leave my first apprentice in the dust during her entrance test.

Keika using it against her sends a clear message–––I’m stronger than you and Ai Hinatsuru both.

That’s the only thing it could mean.

That taunt hit home. Ai is furious.

…… You toil in the Practice League, a bottom feeder for more than seven years and try this on me!!?

Such a scary face.

Ai is so pissed, I’m surprised there isn’t fire coming out of her mouth.

Meanwhile, Keika moves both of her Golds and both of her Silvers around her King to protect it like a fortress. It’s a modern style, one that Big Sis likes to use.

Ai snorts.

“Can you afford to protect your King to that degree? Move Loss may be a defensive strategy, but it won’t work if you don’t have any pieces to move.”

Keika ignored Ai’s taunt, barely even registering it with a glance.

“…… Tsk!”

On the other hand, Ai’s clenched fist is hovering over the board as she forces a battle with fire in her veins.

I doubt she realizes it herself, and she’d deny it if someone pointed it out, but it’s obvious at first glance, from where I’m standing, that Ai has lost her cool.

And it shows in her Shogi.

Rather than use her cunning wit like usual, her offense is relying on pure power.

Since that kind of attack is easy to read, it’s not breaking through. She had to waste a lot of moves to set everything up and isn’t getting anything out of it.

While Ai was busy with that, Keika started building her defensive formation, an anaguma.

“Tsk ……!” Ai snaps her tongue.

She’s getting pencil whipped. Keika’s Move Loss Bishop Exchange strategy baited her into attacking, but she couldn’t do enough damage to prevent a solid wall from going up around her King.

Ai changes her strategy, moving in to destroy the anaguma before it’s finished.

However, Keika wasn’t fazed and completed it without breaking a sweat.

Now Keika’s King is in zetto. One move could never put her in check—sort of like having the star power up in a videogame.

That way, she doesn’t have to read defensively and can focus all her energy on offense.

“Hm! She’s quite calm, Keika,” says Kuruno-sensei.

“Despite not having the same amount of reading skill and with that much defense in place, it’s only necessary to read the other side of the board. Only someone who understands their own strengths and weaknesses can fight like that.”

In a Bishop Exchange match where both players have to make sure they don’t leave openings for the Bishop to deploy, that’s a huge advantage.

“Okay then … How about–––this!!”

There’s no point in hanging onto the Bishop anymore.

Ai tries to shake up the board by deploying her Bishop for an ace in the hole right in the middle of the action.

A move that works both offensively and defensively, but–––.

“Here I come,” says Keika under her breath as she advances the Pawn in front of her Rook, pressing her attack down the eighth column.

The counter has begun.

“?! …… Tsssk!”

Not shy at all about making loud, frustrated noises, Ai moves her central Bishop to help with defense and deploys a Pawn to keep the attack at bay.

However …

“Hah. Such a child,” Keika laughs, not the least bit intimidated and slides her Rook from the eighth column to the sixth.

“…… Ah?!!”

Ai presses down on her eye with one hand reflexively, digging her fingers deep enough into her skin to make it turn red.

The eighth column attack was a feint.

Her true target was the sixth: to divide Ai’s forces in half right down the middle!

“Hm. Keika will be satisfied with this record,” Kuruno-sensei says with a strong nod.

He’s right. Keika all but ended this match before it could advance into a late game.

From start to finish, Keika was in complete control and overpowered Ai. From what I could tell, she didn’t waste a single move the whole match, and I’m a Move Loss Bishop Exchange specialist.

A perfect record.

“I never thought … Keika could play like this …”

“She’s very studious and certainly has enough potential. Enough to join the Women’s League, for sure.”

Effort alone may not be enough to overcome talent.

However, talent can be manipulated, sealed away.

This match proves it.

As she normally is, Ai would’ve figured out what Keika was trying to do early on, but she was too hotheaded to see it this time.

If there was one word to describe the reason she lost, that would be … “Arrogance,” Kuruno-sensei and I say at the same time.

She let her perfect Practice League record go to her head. She didn’t even try to hide it. Ai looked down on the other Practice League members who showed up late to lectures without a second thought. She told everyone flat out: I’ll overpower anyone anytime. But strength without caution leaves a lot of openings.

And Keika took full advantage of them.

She studied her opponent, not just her opponent’s playing style, and eliminated her best points before the match even begin. She’s good!

“Kgh ……!”

Ai is hurting so much I can practically hear her teeth clench together, but she doesn’t have any moves left.

Trying to hold out now will just prolong the humiliation.

Her eyes turn bright red as she puts her hand down on her piece stand to show she’s giving up and starts to stand to get away from the board because the pain is too much.

But Keika didn’t let her. Her voice snaps like a whip, “Manners!!”

“……!”

Ai flinches, shaken to the core by Keika’s overwhelming aura.

Keika repeats herself, softer. “Where are your manners?”

Ai sits back down on her ankles, grinding her teeth together and endures the humiliation just long enough to squeeze out the words, “…… I, I …… I lost …”

“Thank you for the match.”

Doing a total 180, Keika calmly bows her head like a higher-ranking player should.

Ai probably won’t be able to beat Keika for a while after this … It was that crushing of a defeat.